Feature Representation Learning with Adaptive Displacement Generation and Transformer Fusion for Micro-Expression Recognition

Micro-expressions are spontaneous, rapid and subtle facial movements that can neither be forged nor suppressed. They are very important nonverbal communication clues, but are transient and of low intensity thus difficult to recognize. Recently deep learning based methods have been developed for micro-expression (ME) recognition using feature extraction and fusion techniques, however, targeted feature learning and efficient feature fusion still lack further study according to the ME characteristics. To address these issues, we propose a novel framework Feature Representation Learning with adaptive Displacement Generation and Transformer fusion (FRL-DGT), in which a convolutional Displacement Generation Module (DGM) with self-supervised learning is used to extract dynamic features from onset/apex frames targeted to the subsequent ME recognition task, and a well-designed Transformer Fusion mechanism composed of three Transformer-based fusion modules (local, global fusions based on AU regions and full-face fusion) is applied to extract the multi-level informative features after DGM for the final ME prediction. The extensive experiments with solid leave-one-subject-out (LOSO) evaluation results have demonstrated the superiority of our proposed FRL-DGT to state-of-the-art methods

Serum Zinc-α2-Glycoprotein Levels Were Decreased in Patients With Premature Coronary Artery Disease

Objectives: To explore serum zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG) changes in patients with or without premature coronary artery disease (PCAD) and its association with several cardiovascular risk factors.Methods: A total of 3,364 patients who were undergone coronary angiography in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were screened. According to the degree of coronary artery stenosis, the number of 364 patients with PCAD (age <55 years in males and <65 years in females) and 126 age and gender matched patients without premature coronary artery disease (NPCAD) were recruited in our present study. In addition, 182 age and gender matched healthy controls were also enrolled. Serum ZAG levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.Results: Serum ZAG were significantly lower in the PCAD (8.03 ± 1.01 vs. 8.78 ± 1.89 μg/mL, p < 0.05) and NPCAD groups (8.28 ± 1.61 vs. 8.78 ± 1.89 μg/mL, p < 0.05), respectively, when compared with the controls. Multiple regression analysis showed that PCAD was independently associated with serum ZAG levels (B = −0.289, p = 0.002). The probability of PCAD in subjects with low tertile ZAG levels was 2.48-fold higher than those with high tertile levels after adjusting for other confounders [OR = 3.476, 95% CI 1.387–8.711, p = 0.008]. This phenomenon was more likely to be observed in male subjects with BMI <24 kg/m2. The receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis showed a weak diagnostic performance of serum ZAG for PCAD (AUC = 0.659, 95% CI 0.612–0.705, p < 0.05). At the cutoff value of 7.955 μg/mL serum ZAG, the sensitivity and specificity for differentiating patients with PCAD from controls were 50.5 and 78.0%, respectively. The combination of ZAG with other clinical variables including age, gender, BMI, SBP, FBG, TC, HDL-C, Cr, and Urea had significantly improved the diagnosis accuracy with a sensitivity of 82.6%, a specificity of 95.0%, and AUC of 0.957 (95% CI, 0.940–0.975, p < 0.05).Conclusion: Serum ZAG levels were firstly found to be decreased in Chinese PCAD patients. Subjects with lower ZAG levels were more likely to have PCAD, especially for male subjects with BMI <24 kg/m2. ZAG might be the potential diagnostic biomarkers for PCAD patients, and the combination of ZAG and clinical variables had higher discriminative performance

Exites in Cambrian arthropods and homology of arthropod limb branches

Abstract: The last common ancestor of all living arthropods had biramous postantennal appendages, with an endopodite and exopodite branching off the limb base. Morphological evidence for homology of these rami between crustaceans and chelicerates has, however, been challenged by data from clonal composition and from knockout of leg patterning genes. Cambrian arthropod fossils have been cited as providing support for competing hypotheses about biramy but have shed little light on additional lateral outgrowths, known as exites. Here we draw on microtomographic imaging of the Cambrian great-appendage arthropod Leanchoilia to reveal a previously undetected exite at the base of most appendages, composed of overlapping lamellae. A morphologically similar, and we infer homologous, exite is documented in the same position in members of the trilobite-allied Artiopoda. This early Cambrian exite morphology supplements an emerging picture from gene expression that exites may have a deeper origin in arthropod phylogeny than has been appreciated.Copyright © The Authors, 2021. This is an open access article, available to all readers online, published under a creative commons licensing (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The attached file is the published version of the article

Progress in Diagnosis and Treatment of Autoimmune Hypophysitis

Autoimmune hypophysitis is a rare disorder characterized by autoimmune-mediated inflammation of the pituitary, among which lymphocytic hypophysitis is the most common type that occurs mainly in young women of reproductive ages. Its common clinical manifestation includes headache, visual dysfunction, hypopituitarism and etc. Typical magnetic resonance imaging shows diffuse homogenous enlargement of the pituitary gland with gadolinium enhancement and stalk thickening. Pituitary biopsy with histopathological examination is the gold standard for the diagnosis of autoimmune hypophysitis, but it should be performed with extra care in that transsphenoidal surgery is invasive and may cause pituitary insufficiency. Closely relating to clinical manifestation of the patients and the radiological features is advised for diagnosis. Good response to glucocorticoid therapy also help confirm the diagnosis. Full course of pharmacological glucocorticoid treatment can effectively control the clinical symptoms, reduce the mass effects, and promote the resumption of pituitary functions. Surgery is usually necessary for xanthomatous and granulomatous hypophysitis. Pathophysiological mechanism, diagnostic biomarkers, and need studying further

Quantitative contribution of resistance sources of components to stack performance for planar solid oxide fuel cells

This study detects the resistance that influences the stack performance of SOFCs with composition of NiYSZ/YSZ/LSC-YSZ and investigates the variation patterns of the resistances of the stack repeating unit (SRU) during operation and their quantitative contributions to its performance at 700 degrees C, 750 degrees C and 800 degrees C. The results indicate that when the cell cathode contacts the interconnect well, the cell resistance accounts for 70.1-79.7% of that of the SRU, and the contact resistance (CR) between the cathode current-collecting layer (CCCL) and the interconnect accounts for 20.0-28.9%. The CR between the anode current-collecting layer (ACCL) and the interconnect together with the resistance of the interconnect can be neglected during instantaneous I V testing. When the stack is discharged at constant current for 600 h, cell resistance increases by 28.3%, accounting for 93.3% of the SRU degradation, the anodic CR increases by 36.4%, accounting for 6.7% of the SRU degradation, and the resistances of the cathode contact and its neighbor interconnect remain unchanged. Therefore, the increase of the cell resistance is the main reason causing the SRU degradation, and the anodic contact is also an influencing factor that cannot be neglected during stable operation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Superphanes: Old Yet New Binding–Agents for Highly Selective Recognition of Fluoride by Size–Sieving Effect

Superphanes, namely percyclophanes, have been widely investigated for the sake of their aesthetically pleasing structures with high symmetry, intriguing physical and chemical properties and synthetic challenges. Nonetheless, the host–guest chemistry of superphanes remains to be an unmet challenge. Herein, we delineate the design, preparation, characterization, and host–guest chemistry of an unprecedented superphane 15, which was evidenced by mass spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, X–ray crystallography, and DFT calculations. 15 features six bridges between two benzene planes, up to 18 Csp–H hydrogen–bonding donors well–distributed around the near–closed inner cavity in three dimensions. These allow 15 to exhibit exclusive selectivity towards F– against Cl–, Br–, I–, N3–, SCN–, NO3–, ClO4–, SO42– and HP2O73– due to the size–sieving effect. This contribution opens up new opportunities for design and synthesis of new supramolecular hosts for anions of interest with high selectivity.</p